An Insider's guide to education

What is the worst thing about the new common school year? You guessed it, the way both Aer Lingus and Ryanair rip off teachers and parents planning a mid-term break.

Fancy a trip to Malaga or Faro over the October break? That will be €400- plus - on both airlines - compared with a fraction of that price at other times. Apparently, the airlines have already blocked off dates around the common school year until June 2008 - so don't expect things to get any better.

Time to stop worrying about that Michael O'Leary/Aer Lingus/Ryanair monopoly. Looks like monopoly-style practices are here already. John Carr of the INTO was right all along when he said the only winners from the common school year would be the travel industry.

What's going on at the new Teaching Council, the group which oversees standards in the profession?

Apparently, the council has written to teachers asking each one to supply original transcripts of qualifications so that they can record them. Talk about creating a paper mountain.

Of course, teachers have already supplied these to their employer - in some cases many, many years ago. So why is the council repeating the exercise?

Here's what one principal thinks: "If the Act requires the council to do it, the Act is an ass. If the council is doing it, though not required, they are foolish."

You know all that guff about how schools are fully accountable to a parents? The following is a letter from a Limerick parent who requested exam results from one school.

"I rang the school and asked the secretary if I could have a breakdown of the 2006 results. Her reaction was such that it appeared that the request was incomprehensible, unreasonable and had never been put by any other parent previously. She advised that this was not possible. The principal would have to be consulted.

"The principal did indeed phone me back and quite promptly. He advised that such information could not be divulged as the teacher unions would not consent to it. He was very courteous. But at the end of the day, I still don't know what the results are like in the new school which my children attend. So where is accountability for teachers and school management?"

The principals' conference in Killarney last weekend was a lively occasion. Indeed, the stimulating debate on various issues was a reminder of why the National Association of Principals and Deputy Principals (NAPD) is now so well respected by senior department officials.

Clive Byrne, the principal of St Mary's College, Rathmines, Dublin, will be a hard act to follow as president. His successor, Patricia McDonagh, is the second staff member from Malahide Community School to take a national role. Her teaching colleague, Susie Hall, is a former ASTI president. Incidentally, Mary Hanafin made her address literally on one foot after a recent fall in Leinster House.